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Old 6th February 2009, 01:15   #556
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Sorry to hear that, Moralfibre; I thought T5's woes were a thing of the past :(
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Old 6th February 2009, 10:03   #557
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Originally Posted by moralfibre View Post
all flights were canceled owing to heavy snowfall. My baggage hasn't made it yet. I just hope they don't lose it. Delay can still be dealt with but a loss is irreparable. I had lots of gifts in those suitcases. :(
I think you will get it. Since there were a lot of flight cancellations, it is difficult to route bags etc at short notice
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Old 7th February 2009, 22:14   #558
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Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom View Post
Sorry to hear that, Moralfibre; I thought T5's woes were a thing of the past :(
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Originally Posted by ajmat View Post
I think you will get it. Since there were a lot of flight cancellations, it is difficult to route bags etc at short notice
True, I should get it today I guess but what pisses me off is the Virgin Atlantic call center in Pune (for USA) that has no clue about what they are saying.

LHR was in shambles when we landed the aircraft couldn't get any parking, all flights were canceled. We were taken out of the aircraft after being seated for 3 hrs in the taxi way by means of those old gen stairs put on trucks and the outside temperature was -2 degs. Then a 12 hr queue gave me a reservation on a Virgin Atlantic flight for the next day. All traffic was at standstill and the M25 had 53 mile long traffic queue which made me sleep at the airport itself. Thankfully I managed a transit visa which helped me go out of the airport premises for a smoke at least.

A few pics from that day:
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A YetiGuideŽ to Airlines, Airports and Domestic Air Travel-img_3896.jpg  

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Old 7th February 2009, 23:46   #559
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Wonderful pictures!

I think that, at one time, more than half Heathrow's flights were cancelled.
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Old 8th February 2009, 02:08   #560
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Once, on my way to Dulles (washington DC) via a hopping flight thru Austria I spent 22 hours at the Austrian airport. No transit visas were available as all flights were delayed due to the weather and everyone was given a blanket and pillows along with coupons for breakfast and dinner. Had fun playing the playstation all night at the airport though
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Old 8th February 2009, 11:29   #561
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Booking Australian domestic flights from India

To all the Frequent foreign flyers.Can I book Air tickets for domestic Australian flights on say Jetstar or VirginBlue from India on their website.Are there are issues which I should be carefull about.I have an HDFC VISA international credit card.
Also Australian Electric wall sockets are different than our sockets.Can I get an adapter in India for that,since I would require that for charging my electronic stuff.
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Old 9th February 2009, 11:18   #562
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Originally Posted by inder View Post
To all the Frequent foreign flyers.Can I book Air tickets for domestic Australian flights on say Jetstar or VirginBlue from India on their website.Are there are issues which I should be carefull about.I have an HDFC VISA international credit card.
Also Australian Electric wall sockets are different than our sockets.Can I get an adapter in India for that,since I would require that for charging my electronic stuff.

You can go to any electronic shop and tell them that you need a convertor for Australian sockets.
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Old 11th February 2009, 05:12   #563
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Air India -Sucks

Well had the fortune of flying Air India for the first time. Delhi-Tokyo . Well I read Sam prasing AIr India but lord whatever for Sam?

Aircraft: An antiquated 777-200 which had 2-5-2 seating .God help anyone who ges caught in the middle. Dirty dillapted seats. The entertainment system was surely entertaining with the audio working only on channel 3 & 5 ( one of them was an ancient shatrughan sinha movie.) The screen was about 3-4 inches .

We had 50+ yrd old air hostesses who promptly dissapered once the meal was served. The male attendant was actually half bald with a ponge resembling a cop's ponge in kolkata ( calcuttans will know what im talkig about).
The Attendant calling button was soemhow now working ( I suspect was disabled with connivance of flight crew ). The atendants were next seen 40 mins before landing when breakfast of an ancient bread roll was served. Dinner however was decent. They however had no diet drinks and I was forced to survive on Orange juice and water ( which I got only once as all had dissapeared for the night).

By far the worst flight I have ever had. I am dreading the return flight from tokyo - delhi which i due in 3 weeks.

I wonder from where Mr Praful Patel hoped to make AI look like Singapore airlines. Wake Up Mr Patel....
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Old 11th February 2009, 14:51   #564
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Originally Posted by sk456 View Post
Well had the fortune of flying Air India for the first time. Delhi-Tokyo . Well I read Sam prasing AIr India but lord whatever for Sam?

Aircraft: An antiquated 777-200 which had 2-5-2 seating .God help anyone who ges caught in the middle. Dirty dillapted seats. The entertainment system was surely entertaining with the audio working only on channel 3 & 5 ( one of them was an ancient shatrughan sinha movie.) The screen was about 3-4 inches .

We had 50+ yrd old air hostesses who promptly dissapered once the meal was served. The male attendant was actually half bald with a ponge resembling a cop's ponge in kolkata ( calcuttans will know what im talkig about).
The Attendant calling button was soemhow now working ( I suspect was disabled with connivance of flight crew ). The atendants were next seen 40 mins before landing when breakfast of an ancient bread roll was served. Dinner however was decent. They however had no diet drinks and I was forced to survive on Orange juice and water ( which I got only once as all had dissapeared for the night).

By far the worst flight I have ever had. I am dreading the return flight from tokyo - delhi which i due in 3 weeks.

I wonder from where Mr Praful Patel hoped to make AI look like Singapore airlines. Wake Up Mr Patel....
Sorry to hear about your experience mate! I've travelled Air India on the LHR-IGI route a few times and found the experience not that bad. Infact because of the older aircrafts they had more leg room. Food was also goood.

Yes the crew and in flight entertainment system (I've seen Devanand movies which play on a repeated loop) is quite sad and old, but they were quite sweet with me.

My tip: They go by face value..They are people whom you would define as "Angrez chale gaye lekin ghulam choor gaye". I know it sounds really pathetic but thats how I've always found them. Speak to them in Angrezi and their attitude completely changes! They treat you like crap if you speak in Hindi(I've seen them being extremely rude and look down at people speaking in Hindi)..She actually shouted at this guy to put his window blind down.
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Old 11th February 2009, 15:52   #565
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Originally Posted by Brabus E V12 View Post
My tip: They go by face value..They are people whom you would define as "Angrez chale gaye lekin ghulam choor gaye". I know it sounds really pathetic but thats how I've always found them. Speak to them in Angrezi and their attitude completely changes! They treat you like crap if you speak in Hindi(I've seen them being extremely rude and look down at people speaking in Hindi)..She actually shouted at this guy to put his window blind down.

They all dream of being a Maureen Wadia, Parmeshwer Godrej, Nina Pillai etc - ex air hostesses
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Old 26th February 2009, 17:29   #566
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New Delhi- Los Angeles

Hey Guy's. My Mom has to go meet my sister who is in Los Angeles.She's planning on going by the end of June. Last year they(my parents) flew by BA but had gone to New York. Now as she's travelling alone she was preferring a direct flight to LA. Any suggestions please. How's Singapore airlines. And is there any direct flight to LA too. Last year I got the tickets booked through a travel agent. Should I try online this time aorund or do travelagents find you a better deal.
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Old 26th February 2009, 20:17   #567
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Hey Guy's. My Mom has to go meet my sister who is in Los Angeles.She's planning on going by the end of June. Last year they(my parents) flew by BA but had gone to New York. Now as she's travelling alone she was preferring a direct flight to LA. Any suggestions please. How's Singapore airlines. And is there any direct flight to LA too. Last year I got the tickets booked through a travel agent. Should I try online this time aorund or do travelagents find you a better deal.
There is an SIA flight to LA but it is 17 hours non stop. The plane will be yucky and you will be begging to stretch out halfway through. Try both options and decide
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Old 26th February 2009, 22:28   #568
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Universal plug (adaptors)

Universal adaptors - APC and other brands are available at major appliance stores like Reliance, e-zone etc. You can also buy them at airports.

They are easily adaptable and fit into any wall socket - European, UK, US, Aus, NZ etc. etc. you can also fit any plug into it. So it works both abroad (with their strange sockets) and at home (to accomodate all those weird plugs you get on gadgets you picked up on your last trip).

These are absolute essentials to carry with you when travelling and come in useful on flights too!

Cheers,
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Old 26th February 2009, 22:46   #569
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Originally Posted by isldhn View Post
Hey Guy's. My Mom has to go meet my sister who is in Los Angeles.She's planning on going by the end of June. Last year they(my parents) flew by BA but had gone to New York. Now as she's travelling alone she was preferring a direct flight to LA. Any suggestions please. How's Singapore airlines. And is there any direct flight to LA too. Last year I got the tickets booked through a travel agent. Should I try online this time aorund or do travelagents find you a better deal.
While Ajmat has a point that 17 hours is a long time to spend inside one aircraft, your mother might prefer it to a transfer in a strange airport. I of course find the airports in strange lands to be very user friendly and staff are helpful to senior citizens.

Singapore Airlines is absolutely wonderful, I have flown them a few times to various destinations in Asia and have never found them wanting. Their connections out of Changi-Singapore (a great airport) are also very good. I think that your mom will appreciate the 'Asian' touch or warmth that SQ has on tap, to the less warm but efficient culture of the European or American airlines.

Flying westward out of India, I have found Lufthansa to be the best. I do not know how their connections are to LA. Frankfurt airport can be quite a maze though, if the airlines is intimated before-hand, they will provide assistance to catch the connecting flight.

AI has non-stop flights to NY using their new 777-200LRs, you might look at them too. However AI is prone to cancellations, delays etc. (A seperate post about that later).

Try the net as I think that SQ as well as few other major airlines have stopped giving the agents commission, so the agents will charge you a commission or fee above the fare. It always helps to shop around.

Cheers,
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Old 20th March 2009, 16:24   #570
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Flying westward out of India, I have found Lufthansa to be the best. I do not know how their connections are to LA.
I think the best is Jet. Have travelled with them quite a few times and they combine the European precision with Indian Warmth.

They have also introduced a closed cabins in their First Class. Somehow on the A 330-200 found their business class better any day compared to the First.

Worst airline out of India is undoubtedly Kuwait Airways ( worse than AI) especially in terms of in-flight services.
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